The New York Hush Money Trump Trial: A Day By Day Play
Compiled with the Memeing The World segment from the past seven weeks, here is the full picture!
Week 1
After countless attempts to delay the prosecution, the New York Stormy Daniels hush money case finally began its jury selection and trial on Monday. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s case is not about the fact that Donald Trump cheated on his third wife Melania while she was pregnant with the adult film actress Stormy Daniels, or about the hush money payments Trump paid afterward. This case is about the former president’s attempt to falsify business records to hide the payments and protect his campaign from the damaging story. But on a larger scale, as the judge confirmed on Monday, the case is also on election interference, and how the Trump campaign collaborated with the tabloid National Enquirer to bury bad stories about the candidate during the 2016 presidential election.
For many observers, the hush money case is the weakest among the four criminal prosecutions of the former president. But due to Trump’s successful attempts to postpone or delay his other legal cases, many suspect the New York trial to be the only legal case that Trump has to show up in court and be judged before the November election. Some harbored worries about the case when it was announced in April 2023 over the tightness of the case, fearing the trial might exonerate Trump and perpetuate the martyr narrative that he has been perpetuating since the Mar-A-Lago raid in August 2022.
In the first-ever criminal trial of a president of the United States, Day 1 began with little drama in the jury selection process as Donald Trump arrived at a New York court to see potential jurors called into the courtroom. No jurors were selected on the first day, but the entire procedure was so boring that Donald Trump fell asleep during the proceeding!
On Day 2, seven jurors were selected, the former president fell asleep again, and the trial was adjourned until Thursday before Trump went to Harlem and visited a bodega to attack the New York DA Alvin Bragg over crime (The bodega Trump visited was involved in a fatal stabbing incident. In 2022, the store clerk stabbed the attacker trying to rob the shop before Bragg charged him with murder. It should be known that the case was dropped three weeks after the incident). Spoiler alert, it was a planned event by the New York Young Republicans as a photo-op. During the first two days of the trial, before Judge Merchan even made a decision, Trump whined about the judge not allowing him to attend the high school graduation of his youngest son Barron (Who was in Melania’s womb as his dad cheated with Stormy Daniels).
Thursday’s trial on Day 3 started with 2 of the established 7 jurors being excused after one of the supposed jurors professed she was concerned about the ability to be impartial. The judge then warned the press about how they portray the selected jurors, given those who were excused that day cited their friends and family knowing who they were based on media descriptions. However, the slight bump was overcome when on the same day, all 12 jurors were selected including 7 men and 5 women, all kept anonymous in fear of political retaliation from people like Trump. Then, the selection of alternative jurors began.
One alternative was already selected on Thursday, while 5 more were chosen on Friday, meaning a full jury and alternatives are all filled in, and opening arguments can begin after Day 4 of the trial. Outside the courtroom, a man threw conspiracy theory pamphlets before setting himself on fire. The person was rescued but later died the next day, his motive was unclear but was linked to the Trump trial.
Week 2
The Trump trials began its opening arguments on Monday. Before the trial continued, reports leaked from Trumpland that the big man was furious about the courtroom sketches featuring himself sleeping and reports of him farting in court. Trump also canceled a rally in North Carolina last weekend, as fervent supporters were disappointed not to see the former president due to heavy rain.
Day 5 saw prosecutors calling their first witness, former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker, who testified about how he engaged in “checkbook journalism” to pay for stories, a move prosecutors claim is used for Trump’s bid to win the White House.
On Day 6, Judge Merchan made a hearing on whether Trump should be held in contempt of court for his verbal attacks on him and the justice system, there was no decision made then. In testimonials, Pecker continued testifying of how Trump used his then-fixer Michael Cohen to publish negative stories with the Enquirer in a symbiotic relationship.
On Thursday, not only was it Day 7 of the hush money/election interference case trial, but the Supreme Court heard arguments over whether Trump has presidential immunity over the classified documents case. After the Court listened to the arguments, it seems the justices are poised to reject Trump’s claim of full immunity but accepted the point that a president should have some kind of immunity. The Court has signaled it would further delay the election interference case as it considers the immunity claims, which would only further delay any trial for that set of indictments until after the November election and potentially disrupt Jack Smith’s prosecution of the former president, a move some Trump critics have pointed out is exactly Trump’s plan to infinitely postpone his cases. In the New York courtroom, David Pecker returned to testify of how he scoops and buries stories about the then-candidate and read out loud text messages between him, Michael Cohen, and Trump. Including one that wrote: “At least if he wins I will be pardoned for electoral fraud.”
Day 8 of the trial saw the end of Pecker’s testimony and prosecutors called a long-time personal assistant to Donald Trump Rhona Graff and Michael Cohen’s former banker Gary Farro as their second and third witnesses. On the way to the trial on Friday, Trump complained about the “freezing” courtroom while wishing her wife Melania a happy birthday.
Week 3
Before the Trump trials continued into Day 9 on Tuesday, the former president had a busy three-day weekend hate-tweeting Biden and comedian Colin Jost’s performance at the White House Correspondents Dinner. At the same time, more news came out that Florida Governor and former Trump rival Ron DeSantis privately met with the former president, and agreed to campaign for him.
On Day 9 of the trial, Judge Merchan began by finding Trump had violated his gag order 9 times and fined him $9000, before ruling that the former president is allowed to attend his son’s high school graduation after weeks of whining. That day saw Keith Davidson, Stormy Daniels’s lawyer and the man who negotiated a deal to buy her silence about a sexual encounter with Trump, on the witness stand testifying about how the then-candidate traded money for silence. All while Trump’s lawyers reportedly struggled to keep their client awake that day. Outside the courtroom, Democrats seized on the opportunity to bash Trump over his interviews with Time magazine. Some were alarmed over the former president’s vow for the military to deport migrants and vaguely hinted at the possibility of political violence after the November election, while Joe Biden pounced on Trump’s abortion stance as told to the publication.
On Wednesday, Donald Trump just couldn’t keep his mouth shut for once, as he called Judge Merchan “crooked” a day after he warned the former president that jail time is possible for violating the gag order. At the same time, in an interview with the Milwaukee Journal, the former president refused to commit to accepting the results of the 2024 election if he loses.
The theme of Day 10 continued where the testimony left on two days before, with Stormy Daniels’s lawyer Keith Davidson being cross-examined by Trump’s defense attorneys. For the delight of comedy, prosecutors read text messages between Trump’s then-lawyer Michael Cohen and Keith Davidson when Stormy Daniels made an appearance on the late-night talk show Jimmy Kimmel Live, while Trump’s attorney Todd Blanche read a tweet from Cohen who called his former client with the nickname “Von ShitzInPantz” to laughter in the jury and into the public record. The jury also heard a recording of a pivotal phone call between Trump and Michael Cohen, saying “What do we get to pay for this?”
Before Day 11 of the trial started, the defendant received bad news as the SEC shut down the auditor for Trump’s social media company Trump Media, accusing it of committing “massive fraud.” Inside the trial on Friday, Trump’s former aid Hope Hicks testified on how the campaign treated the Access Hollywood tape (“Grab them by the…”) with denial.
Week 4
On Day 12 of the Trump trials, Judge Merchan gave his final warning to Trump that he might face jail time, as the judge found the former president in contempt of his gag order again. Prosecutors continued to bring new evidence, including testimony from former Trump Organization controller Jeffrey McConney, who elaborated the case that Cohen’s “expenses” were not processed as such.
The drama heated up on Day 13, with Stormy Daniels appearing as a witness on the hush money trial. The testimony was full of salacious details of Trump’s affair and encounter with the adult film star, even as Judge Merchan warned not to mention explicit questions or details on the more private encounters with the former president. Judge Merchan denied a mistrial request by Trump’s lawyers after Daniels provided graphic testimony of an alleged sexual encounter, while transcripts showed Trump swearing in the courtroom as his lawyers cross-examined the actress. On the same day, Trump got good news from the federal classified documents case, as the proposed trial date of May 20 was scrapped and delayed indefinitely, while it turned out Trump’s excuse to get a day off to attend his son Barron’s graduation was not as true as it seemed, given he is attending a fundraiser in Minnesota instead at the same time (Surprise!).
In Georgia, the state’s appeals court allowed prosecutor Fani Willis to stay on the election interference case on Wednesday, but the judge did grant Trump’s request on whether Willis should be disqualified on the former president’s criminal case. All of that led to the hush money trial being officially the only criminal case Trump had to go through before the November election, Day 14 of the trial saw feisty cross-examinations between Stormy Daniels and Trump’s lawyers, questioning the motivations of adult film actress to come out with the story. After Daniels finished her testimony, the next witness was a junior bookkeeper at the Trump Organization named Rebecca Manochio who worked for former CFO Allen Weisselberg and former controller Jeff McConney. For a second time in a row, Judge Merchan refused to declare a mistrial after the request by Trump’s lawyers.
On Day 15 of the trial, as junior characters continued their testimony, we learned Michael Cohen, Trump’s ex-lawyer, would testify next Monday. But one of the biggest bombshells came from the New York Times and ProPublica, which obtained an IRA audit that suggested the supposed billionaire owes $100 million from double-dip tax breaks.
Week 5
Prosecutors brought their star witness on Day 16 of the hush money trial to the stand: Former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen, who was sent to jail in 2019 for crimes related to the Stormy Daniels case. During testimony that day, Cohen confirmed that the hush money deal “was all about the campaign” and Trump was not thinking of his wife Melania, the Stormy Daniels story would have been “catastrophic” for the 2016 campaign, and how the hush money payment was set out.
On the trial’s Day 17 list of Trump lackeys hoping to show devotion to the dear leader included Speaker Mike Johnson and former GOP presidential rival Vivek Ramaswamy, as analysts see a growing number of prominent Republicans wanting to pledge their loyalty to Trump by attending the trial and denouncing the trial as illegitimate despite personal embarrassments and conflicts. Case in point, Johnson potentially has broken court rules by attacking Cohen outside the courthouse. A similar sentiment was reflected during cross-examination by Trump’s lawyers to the former lawyer over his record of lying that sent him to jail in 2019. Unfortunately for the former president, an appeals court judge upheld Judge Merchan’s gag order on him during the Manhattan trial. As the trial went on its Wednesday break, the surrogate ploy was revealed to be a move by Trump to subvert the gag order. Tommy Tuberville directly revealed on a NewsMax interview that his appearance alongside other Trump allies is a plot, a plot to evade the gag order that would send the former president into jail if he broke it again.
By Day 18 of the trial, as more Trump surrogates visited the New York courthouse like it was a pilgrimage, Trump’s lawyers continued to use the cross-examination period with Cohen to claim the former lawyer’s actions were committed due to his hatred of his former boss. Interestingly, Cohen claimed he has good relations with Chris Cuomo (formerly on CNN), Maggie Haberman of the New York Times, and Katy Tur of MSNBC. After the grilling of Cohen ended, the week’s trial ended as Trump supposedly is going to attend his son Barron’s graduation on Friday.
Week 6
This week saw the conclusion of the prosecution’s case against Donald Trump in the New York hush money election interference case, amidst taunts by the former president’s political rivals for him to take the stand and give his testimony.
Michael Cohen returned to the witness stand on Day 19 of the trial, in which he admitted he was stealing from the Trump Organization when cross-examined by the former president’s lawyers. After that, the prosecution rested its case, and the defense called on two witnesses starting with Robert Costello. Costello was expected to undermine Cohen’s credibility given his history with the ex-Trump lawyer, but the situation was so chaotic Judge Merchan had to clear the courtroom after improper decorum by Costello. Meanwhile, outside the courtroom, hecklers used cowbells and whistles to drown out the latest round of Congressional Trump supporters airing out the former president’s grievances in front of TV cameras. For even better comic relief, his social media site Truth Social lost $327.6 million on top of $770,500 in revenue for the first quarter of 2024.
In case Trump is not in hot water for repeatedly breaking the gag order again, he posted a video on Truth Social that suggests there will be a "Unified Reich" if he wins the 2024 election, before suggesting on Tuesday that he is open to states restricting access to birth control.
By Day 20 of the trial, the defense rested its case without Trump testifying, which was understandable given it was Donald Trump we were talking about, and a bit surprising given he boasted multiple times that he was willing to take the stand. Judge Merchan called the jurors to return next Tuesday for closing arguments, while Trump attacked the judge outside the courtroom by referencing his name and “where he comes from.”
Meanwhile, in Georgia, Fani Willis won the Democratic primary for Fulton County District Attorney despite Trump’s attempts to smear him, after gaining national prominence by prosecuting the former president. If that’s not enough Trump trial news, newly revealed court documents on the classified documents case showed months after the August 2022 Mar-A-Lago raid by the FBI, more classified documents were found in the former president’s bedroom!
Week 7
After an embarrassing speech given to the Libertarian Party (For which he only got a measly 0.65% of the vote for the party's presidential nominee after begging the booing crowd to vote for him) over the weekend, Trump heads back to the New York courtroom to face final arguments before a jury begins to decide his fate.
Day 21 saw closing remarks by the prosecutors emphasizing key evidence that the prosecution argued needed to send the former president to jail, arguing Trump had tried to “hoodwink the American voter.” At the same time, the defense portrayed Trump as the victim and complained about the “lies” by attacking witnesses like Michael Cohen. With the closing arguments going into the night, outside the courtroom, as Trump’s children spoke in defense of their father, the Biden campaign pulled out a big (if possibly ill-advised) stunt by letting campaign surrogate and Trump nemesis Robert De Niro show up outside the New York courtroom, where De Niro then proclaimed Trump should be sent to jail. Meanwhile, on the same Tuesday, the Trump trials saw Judge Aileen Cannon rejecting the prosecutors’ request on the classified documents case to restrict Trump’s speech attacking FBI officials and employees.
Starting on Day 22, it’s time for the jurors to begin deliberations behind closed doors and decide Trump’s fate after six weeks of witness testimony. Trump was downbeat as the jury started their deliberations, saying “Mother Teresa could not beat these charges.” The jury reviewed all the evidence presented to them and requested a replay of testimonies by several witnesses. By the end of the day, the first day of deliberations has resulted in no final verdict.
Day 23’s deliberations continued with Trump being able to watch the TV inside the courthouse. In the afternoon, the jury came out and announced that Donald Trump, former president of the United States, was convicted on all 34 counts. Based on eyewitness reports, the convicted ex-president closed his eyes when the verdict was announced, and looked disappointed as he walked out of the courtroom. Trump then dismissed the trial as “rigged” and insisted he was “a very innocent man,” before vowing he would appeal after the sentencing date was set at July 11. In reaction to the verdict, Stormy Daniels was “relieved” that the case was over, while Michael Cohen called it “an important day for accountability.” On the other hand, almost all Republicans (Except a rare few like Larry Hogan) came to Trump’s defense, with Speaker Mike Johnson calling it “shameful.” To nobody’s surprise, the Trump campaign quickly seized on the felony conviction to fundraise among his small-dollar donors, claiming he was a “political prisoner” and releasing a video of himself leaving the courtroom as a campaign promotion piece.